Edmonton Public Library Extends Outreach Workers Project

Downtown has them but soon five more Edmonton Public libraries will have access to the three outreach workers who have helped individuals at Stanley L. Milner for the last three years.

Edmonton Public Library officials announced Thursday their outreach workers who work with at-risk individuals accessing the library will extend their service to Abbottsfield, Highlands, Sprucewood, Woodcroft and Strathcona libraries as well.

The extension of the program comes as part of a big year for the public library, which earlier this month announced it was continuing its free library card program, implemented as part of the library’s centennial celebrations in 2013. Alberta is one of the only Canadian jurisdictions, along with parts of Quebec, that charges for library cards.

A new library branch is also expected to open in Highlands this summer.

“Your public library is public. It is for everyone, and everyone is welcome,” said Edmonton Public Library CEO Linda Cook. “The vulnerable are our customers as well. We provide books and all kinds of materials to all of our customers. These customers need something a little different, so that’s what we provide to them.”

EPL has a $52-million annual budget, with most coming from the City of Edmonton.

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.